The Wisdom of Supermodels

Life's challenges can seem almost insurmountable at times. And things appear to be getting not only harder, but weirder as well. One might normally seek inspiration and turn to the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Tao Te Ching. But sometimes they're not enough.

That's when you need...

The Wisdom of Supermodels

ON COURAGE: "They were doing a full back shot of me in a swimsuit and I thought, Oh, my God, I have to be so brave. See, every woman hates herself from behind."--Cindy Crawford

ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE: "Everywhere I went, my cleavage followed. But I learned I am not my cleavage."--Carole Mallory

ON POVERTY: "Everyone should have enough money to get plastic surgery."--Beverly Johnson

ON FATE: "I wish my butt did not go sideways, but I guess I have to face that."--Christie Brinkley

ON ARRIVING: "Because modeling is lucrative, I'm able to save up and be more particular about the acting roles I take."--Kathy Ireland (star of "Alien from L.A." and "Danger Island")

ON CAREER CHOICES: "My boyfriend thinks I lost my true calling to be a librarian."--Paulina Porizkova

ON PRIORITIES: "I would rather exercise than read a newspaper."--Kim Alexis

ON GEOPOLITICS: "Mick Jagger and I just really liked each other a lot. We talked all night. We had the same views on nuclear disarmament."--Jerry Hall

ON DEATH: "Richard (Gere) doesn't really like me to kill bugs, but sometimes I can't help it."--Cindy Crawford

ON TRAVEL: "I haven't seen the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre.I haven't seen anything. I don't really care."--Tyra Banks

ON BREAKTHROUGHS: "Once I got past my anger toward my mother, I began to excel in volleyball and modeling."--Gabrielle Reece

ON EPIPHANY: "I just found out that I'm one inch taller than I thought."--Christie Brinkley

ON HEREDITY: "My husband was just OK looking. I was in labor and I said to him, 'What if she's ugly? You're ugly.'"--Beverly Johnson

ON THE BASICS: "It's very important to have the right clothing to exercise in. If you throw on an old -shirt or sweats, it's not inspiring for your workout."--Cheryl Tiegs

ON INTRODUCTIONS: "I think most people are curious about what it would be like to be able to meet yourself--it's eerie."--Christy Turlington

ON COURTSHIP: "The soundtrack to 'Indecent Exposure' is a romantic mix of music that I know most women love to hear, so I never keep it far from me when women are nearby."--Fabio

ON THE CONSERVATION OF MATTER: "I've looked in the mirror every day for 20 years. It's the same face."--Claudia Schiffer

ON TRAGEDY: "The worst was when my skirt fell down to my ankles, but I had on thick tights underneath."--Naomi Campbell

ON SURVIVAL: "If I'm making a movie and get hungry, I call time out and eat some crackers."--Carol Alt

ON THE CASTE SYSTEM: "We're not Prince Charles and Princess Di. We don't think of ourselves as royalty. We happen to be working people." --Christie Brinkley

ON OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS: "I tried on 250 bathing suits in one afternoon and ended up having little scabs up and down my thighs, probably from some of those with sequins all over them." --Cindy Crawford

ON THINKING: "When I model, I pretty much blank. You can't think too much or it doesn't work."--Paulina Porizkova

ON LOGIC: "I think, If my butt's not too big for them to be photographing it, then it shouldn't be too big for me." --Christy Turlington

ON BODY PARTS: "I don't know what to do with my arms. It just makes me feel weird, and I feel like people are looking at me and that makes me nervous."--Tyra Banks

ON BODY LANGUAGE: "You can usually tell when I'm happy by the fact that I've gained weight."--Christy Turlington

ON DEPRIVATION: "If they had Nautilus on the Concorde, I would work out all the time."--Linda Evangelista

ON VERSATILITY: "I can do anything you want me to do so long as I don't have to speak."--Linda Evangelista

ON THE GRIEF PROCESS: "When my Azzedine jacket from 1987 died, I wrapped it up in a box, attached a note saying where it came from and took it to the Salvation Army. It was a big loss."--Veronica Webb

ON VENGEANCE: "Girls are always getting mad at each other, and they tell their hairdresser to purposely mess up another girl's hair." --Tasha

ON MOTIVATION: "It was kind of boring for me to have to eat. I would know that I had to, and I would."--Kate Moss

...and my personal favorite...

ON ECONOMICS: "I don't wake up for less than $10,000 a day." --Linda Evangelista